AMD takes Live platform to notebooks

You might remember how last year AMD followed Intel's Viiv platform with its own Live Project. Both monikers were essentially lists of compatible hardware and software designed to bolster multimedia computing experience (the way Centrino did for wireless networking).

After a year of not much action on the Live front, AMD has just announced the laptop version of the spec, called (you guessed it) the AMD Live Notebook PC. The company calls it, "an easy-to-use mobile media center designed to help consumers simplify and enjoy their digital lifestyle."

What makes a laptop eligible for the AMD Live sticker? So far, an AMD Turion 64 X2 CPU is required, along with Windows Vista, at least 1GB of RAM, and a collection of software apps, called the AMD Entertainment Suite. This suite has been around for a while for desktops, and it includes TV-recording and media-organization tools.

AMD says AMD Live laptops should be available in Europe, from partners including Fujitsu and MSI, later in January. Details on vendors and dates for the American market are still sketchy.